Opinion: Jorge Ramos made himself the setup man for Donald Trump, failed us

When Donald Trump told Jorge Ramos to “go back to Univision,” he was actually speaking the language of xenophobes everywhere, who were hearing a different message entirely. That message transposed the word “Univision” with the unspoken word “Mexico.”

“Go back to where you came from” and “go back to your own country” are familiar refrains in the language of extremists who dominate the immigration debate. Phrases like those too often drive the conversation at the expense of facts.

We’re not the first group of people in America to be made scapegoats and we probably won’t be the last. Jorge and all of us need to take a page from Jackie Robinson’s life and live by example and by the value of accomplishments, which is exactly what Latino’s in America are doing.

- Rick Sanchez

So what did Jorge Ramos do yesterday when he was summarily kicked out of a Trump news conference for the entire world to see? He made himself the setup man for Donald Trump. He helped Donald Trump gain even more points with his base, which, as we saw this weekend in Alabama, is replete with white supremacists evidenced by the confederate flags and the shouts of “white power.”

I, like Jorge Ramos, am offended by Donald Trump’s meanness, arrogance and utter ignorance of the facts regarding immigration and the contributions of Latinos in the United States. But I’ve learned long ago that it’s not about my hurt feelings or Jorge’s. Nobody cares except other Latinos. And guess what? They are not the ones who need to be convinced that Donald Trump is completely full of crap.

Yes, I know. Jorge Ramos is Mexican, so it cuts a little closer to home for him. He’s also never had to speak to a more general audience like those of us who toil in English language media to earn his living. And he’s right. If Donald Trump were picking on African-Americans, or the LGBT community or the Jewish community with the same tone and demeanor with which he’s assailing Hispanics, the reaction would have been far different. Yes, that hurts. It hurts me, it hurts Jorge and it hurts almost every Latino in America.

But, you know? Tough. We’re not the first group of people in America to be made scapegoats and we probably won’t be the last. Jorge and all of us need to take a page from Jackie Robinson’s life and live by example and by the value of accomplishments, which is exactly what Latinos in America are doing. We create more jobs, we have the highest labor participation rate, we work longer hours for less pay, we subsidize Americans’ social security retirement to the tune of 100 billion dollars over the last decade because we pay an inordinate amount of taxes. Oh, and guess what? The rate of border crossings that Donald Trump screams about is actually down to a net zero according to Pew.

Those are facts. They are important facts. As Donald Trump would say, they’re winners. We’re winners. We work hard and lead by example. We don’t cry, we don’t whine, and we certainly don’t attempt to outbully a bully. Jorge, thanks for trying, but yesterday — you failed us.